Don't want to overstate anything or go too hot dogs and apple pie here, but take a gander atCam Newton's combined numbers over the past two weeks: 35 of 43 pass attempts completed, 10.4 yards per attempt, five total touchdowns, no picks and a 140.9 passer rating. Peyton who?OK, maybe Newton isn't quite better than Peyton Manning, but I'll take him over Peyton Hillis, so take that.

The Carolina Panthers are a sleeping giant in the NFC South. Sleep on them, and Cam Newton and Co. will rise up and put a beating on your team. That's what happened in Week 7, as the Panthers shocked the St. Louis Rams by playing fast, hard and physical on both sides of the ball.

Newton was brilliant against a talented Rams defense, but it seemed like the Panthers were able to get inside the heads of guys like Chris Long and Janoris Jenkins throughout the contest. That led to mistakes, an ejection and otherwise emotional play from St. Louis that the Panthers were able to capitalize on.

The NFC South may be run by the New Orleans Saints right now, but keep an eye on the Panthers.

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Many times in their recent past, the Panthers have had teams physically attack them and were unable to respond, but this team seems to be gradually growing out of old habits. Rather than succumbing to the pressure, Cam Newton continued his steady, methodical play and worked in tandem with his defense to take down the Rams and even the Panthers record at 3-3. They now face a short week in a TNF matchup against the Bucs that could take them above .500 for the first time since 2008.